*Co-produced with the Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata
Turandot was the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's final opera. Weakened by sudden illness, he died in 1924 and never managed to finish it. The opera was completed by Franco Alfano two years later and set to the libretto written by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. The original story was based on the 12th-century Persian poet Nizami's epic poem Seven Beauties. The cruel Chinese princess Turandot forces her noble suitors to answer three riddles. She has already executed one of them when another, young Calàf, who hides his name, falls hopelessly in love with the princess. Although he is implored not to do it, he agrees to solve the riddles. When he succeeds, he wishes to soften Turandot’s heart with love, rather than force. Following many dramatic events Calàf and Turandot come out to meet the people, who celebrate the love that has changed the cold and proud princess. This lavish and popular Puccini opera in three acts is full of beautiful arias and suggestive scenes, alternating the grand with the intimate, filled with drama and tension, evoking the faraway land of China. This monumental work is a co-production of the Opera of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and the famous Italian Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, giving the audiences an opportunity of enjoying Puccini's work at the central national stage.
In 2017. Ricci/Forte received the prestigious Italian Music Critics Award Franco Abbiati for best direction for their creative project Turandot.
Iznimno dirljivo, iznimno dojmljivo, obavezno pogledati!— Express
Hrvatsko narodno kazalište pripremilo je glazbeno spektakularan povratak Turandot.— Vijenac
Ovacije za operni spektakl koji intrigira i režijom i pjevanjem.— Večernji list
